I Was Scared To Have Another Baby

I'm going to tell you a story about a woman who was scared to have another baby. You see, when she had her first baby, her life was flipped upside down. She struggled very seriously with depression and her baby made her cry almost every day.
Then, a very scary thing happened... she got pregnant again. This baby scared the heck out of her. Her days were filled with worry and anxiety and she had no hope some days.


Just look at this scary baby.

Then, this little baby in her stomach would move and kick many times a day. I know... terrifying!
Also, this baby would keep her up at night with horrible heartburn and carpal tunnel. Yes... even more terrifying!
This baby was so very scary. I mean... how scary is a little baby? So scary!
The depression faded with her first daughter and she was very happy again. However, the fear of the next baby did not go away.
Then, finally, her fate awaited her. She had this baby that caused her so much worry.

Then, instead of feeling fear that she expected to feel, she felt joy. She fell in love with that baby right there and then. You see, she wasted so many months of worrying and being fearful, when she could of felt joy from the very beginning. She forgot that her God was faithful and would not give her anything she couldn't handle. Her love for her children was so strong and she was so very happy to have two little girls.
So now her days are very busy, but she loves every moment of it, even the stressful parts. This mommy is so thankful for God's healing that she will now tell others of what God has done in her life.

I love you, my sweet little precious girl. I will be your mommy forever, my little Annabelle.

What To Expect When You Feel The Pressure To Be Super Mom

Becoming a mom was one of the most life changing experiences of my life. It has changed me deeply, for the better. Don’t get me wrong, the beginning was very hard and a lot like boot camp, but it was worth every moment.

There are so many books out there to prepare you for motherhood. A well know one is “What To Expect When You Are Expecting.” It’s a great book, but it didn’t prepare me for the pressure I have felt as a mom. Here are some topics I hear debates about with other moms:

• Breastfeeding or Bottle Feeding
• Organic or Non-Organic
• Immunize or Non-Immunizing
• Natural Birth or Medicated Birth
• Child Directive Parenting or Parent Directive Parenting
• Clothe Diapers or Disposable Diapers
• Antibiotics or No Antibiotics
• Pediatrician or Natural Path
• Organic Clothing or Regular Clothing
• TV or No TV
• Co-Sleeping or Crib Sleeping
• Crying It Out Method or Not Crying It Out
• Discipline Strictly or Disciplining In Between

Just a few topics, right? Haha! I’m a brand new mom and I don’t have a clue what I am doing most of the time, but all these topics have challenged me to be MY girl's mother. Does that make sense? 

There is nothing wrong with being passionate about an issue (I'm passionate about many issues), but when some pass judgement, that is where I have felt pressure to be "super mama." And I am not "super mama"... I'm very far from it. 

Let God guide us and let us encourage one another. So... mommy's out there, let’s support each other. 

Anna's Protein Allergy (Before and After Pics)

I don't think you truly know the extent of sleep deprivation until you have children. Little miss Anna is giving me a run for my money lately. She was diagnosed with reflux awhile back but currently the doctors think that is just a symptom of what she really has. They believe she has a protein allergy (allergic to dairy, soy, goat's milk, some veggies, some meats, and gluten.) It takes 3 weeks for it to be completely out of her system. We are on week 2 and the past several months have been quite the trial. She now has to be on this disgusting formula that was a pain to get her to drink. I had to slowly mix the soy formula and the new formula and then slowly put less soy in so she would take it. Once I finally got her to take it, she screamed day and night. I took her to the doctor and to my surprise, she had a ear infection. I thought for sure it was the new formula but it was her ear. By the time I had taken her to the doctor, I had put her back on soy because I thought the new stuff was making her sick. So now that she had an ear infection, I had to slowly mix the soy with the new stuff again for a few days and fight to get her to take it. It was a nightmare! Finally, she takes it and slowly is getting better. She plays with toys now on the floor, she laughs out loud (never did that before), she has color in her face, and most importantly she is eating more than 12oz a day (Yeah, I know, it made me sick too.) She now eats about 30oz a day. It's still a slow process, but now that it doesn't hurt Anna to eat, she wants to eat day and night! So I been up 3-4 times a night with the little stinker, but she needs to gain weight so I feed her. However, the past few nights she has been doing much better sleeping. Thank the Lord!

A picture of Anna when she was really sick (Very pale, screaming all day, and not eating)

Recent picture, about 1 1/2 weeks on new formula. (More color in her face and plumping up. See the difference???)